nancy pelosi came in and out. no one saw her. we thought reading the tea leaves maybe there would be some movement. there was some movement. the president is playing golf. haven't seen hide nor hair of john boehner. >> mike viqueira, thank you, good sir. for more insight into where all of this is headed and whether there could be a breakthrough, i'd like to bring in david jackson, white house reporter for "usa today," and the politics writer for "roll call." appreciate your time. david, what's your sense right now? how far apart are the two sides? >> i think they're closer than a lot of people think because as mike just mentioned the dispute the size of the tax increase on the wealthy. both sides have said they want to negotiate what that rate may be. as far as the republicans are concerned, they want more commitment from the white house for spending cuts particularly on entitlement programs like social security and medicare. one thing mike talked about the fact we haven't heard much from any of these guys the last few days. i th